Don’t give up on quantitative easing: We can have our cake and eat it too

October 16th, 2009 12:37pm

By Roger E. A. Farmer

According to a widely-held consensus view, the world is slowly emerging from the Great Recession of 2008. Growth in China is projected to top 8 per cent in 2009. Australia raised the interest rate on the Australian dollar last week and the US and UK economies are showing signs that unemployment growth has slowed even though the unemployment rates in both countries are very high. Sometime soon, perhaps in the spring of 2010, perhaps earlier, the Fed, the European Central Bank, and the Bank of England are likely to respond to the perceived global recovery by reducing the sizes of their balance sheets and raising interest rates on overnight loans. Continue reading "Don’t give up on quantitative easing: We can have our cake and eat it too"

Does monetary policy still work?

January 13th, 2009 1:46pm

By Stephen Grenville

With the US official interest rate now in effect zero, there is much talk of monetary policy “running out of ammunition” and “pushing on a string”. Has monetary policy become impotent in the US and Japan? Does a similar fate await the rest of us? Continue reading "Does monetary policy still work?"

How to conduct a quantitative easing

December 23rd, 2008 8:00am

By Alistair Milne 

Central banks are worried about falling rather than rising prices. By early next year, it is possible that central banks’ target policy interest rates will all be reduced to their minimum possible level of zero. Does this mean that central banks will then have lost control over monetary policy and be unable to prevent a cumulative debt deflation? Continue reading "How to conduct a quantitative easing"

Quantitative easing: Lessons from Japan

December 17th, 2008 6:30pm

By John Richards

As the recession deepens, policy rates around the world are rapidly approaching zero and they cannot go any lower. Does that mean that central bankers have run out of ammunition? Not necessarily. Continue reading "Quantitative easing: Lessons from Japan"